Fairytales Revisited

What would a fairytale be with just a happy ending?

Every story needs a beginning, middle and end. In the beginning we are introduced the characters, we are given a reason to care. The middle is where conflict arises and must be dealt with. The ending is resolution of that conflict. In fairy tales, at least the popular ones, the ending is where the princess rides off into the sunset with her prince and they live happily ever after. It's the happy ever after part that everyone wants. Without the happy ever after - would we read Little Red Riding Hood to assure ourselves that we are not the only ones wearing capelets in public? Or Snow White to remind ourselves that pale can be beautiful? Maybe Hansel and Gretel for tips on baking the best gingerbread house? What would these stories be without the elements of fear, despair, sadness, longing, danger, evil, rage and even death? That is where fiction mirrors reality. My fairytale seems to be writing itself in reverse.

"The princess and her prince are living happily ever after in their castle when one day the princess's stomach begins to swell. The kingdom rejoices at the couple's good news. Preparations for the royal child's arrival begin when suddenly the princess falls ill. The doctor determines it is not the princess but the royal child who is ill and will sadly, die. The prince and princess enter a period of mourning, the castle becomes like a tomb. Night after night the princess's sorrowful wailing echoes throughout the castle walls. At last the child arrives. He lives only long enough to meet his grief stricken parents. The kingdom mourns with the good princess and prince. Determined to bring joy to their people, the prince and princess one day announce that another royal child will be born and that the child is healthy. The baby girl's arrival is celebrated throughout the kingdom, as is that of her two younger sisters which arrive in the years after. But alas, the prince and princess seek to complete their family and are especially hopeful of a son for the throne. They excitedly announce the impending arrival of one final child. The princess senses a difference with this child and once again the doctor informs the couple that their child has not long to live. Darkness again settles over the kingdom as it prepares for the child's arrival. The royal family welcomes a tiny son who is briefly surrounded by his three older sisters. Sadness again reigns..."

Fairytales and fiction. They provide an escape, escape from reality. We relentlessly pursued fiction after Wyatt's birth, we rented movies, watched television and went to the movie theater. For just a few hours we were able to immerse ourselves into someone else's reality and leave ours behind. Again, I find myself thirsting for that escape. Oddly enough, my poison of choice tends to be reality shows on television which despite the "reality" provide enough drama to drown out my own. This time I have added a new source, literature. I find myself reading books at an astonishing pace and so I have added a tab on the right side of my page to document what books I have read. I tend to prefer historical fiction but find the process of locating good historical fiction too tedious so now I am just reading pretty much whatever I come across and have found most of them satisfying enough. Perhaps one day we will find the ending to our own story.

Fairy Tales for Real People

Fairy tales have been around for a long time.  My middle daughter is particularly entranced by princesses and tales of love and valor.  I can understand why.  I imagine that fairy tales have always originated as an escape from the real world, from disease, famine, heartbreak and death.  What I find interesting is that fairy tales, classic fairy tales, contain so much of this reality.  In Snow White, the huntsman is asked not only to kill Snow White but to return her heart to the wicked queen.   In Sleeping Beauty, an evil spell promising an early death is cast upon Aurora.  In the Red Shoes, the little girl has to have both feet chopped off.  Cinderella was forced to sleep in the cinder.  Even Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother was terrorized by a wolf.  These are hardly sugar coatings of the difficulties one may encounter in life: jealousy, rage, anger, selfishness and vanity.   Many fairy tales have been glamorized by Disney and used to sell merchandise which promises unfulfilled dreams.  Modern fairy tales have taken on a modern philosophy of shielding our children from  reality, making sure that all children are winners and that no one's feelings are hurt.  This is not reality.  People are not created equally and will always be treated differently.  Individuals have their own strengths and weaknesses, there are different economic, educational, ethnic, social, geographic and family backgrounds which all lend to different experiences.  There is no way to get through life without having your feelings hurt.  Bad things will happen, they do happen all the time.  I am thankful for the fairy tales rooted in reality with an element of fantasy.  They let us know that sometimes in life the crappiest of things will happen to you no matter how smart, beautiful or strong you are.  How your fairy tales ends is up to you though, your fate is not held within the hands of whatever evil has taken you into its grasp, it is yours alone.